


Once Again, You've Had to Greet Me With Goodbye

by literatiruinedme



Category: Once Upon A Time - Fandom
Genre: Dark One Emma, F/M, Post-Finale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-15
Updated: 2015-05-15
Packaged: 2018-03-30 17:58:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3946234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/literatiruinedme/pseuds/literatiruinedme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She’s gone.</p><p>She disappeared in a cloud of darkness and she’s gone now and they have no idea where she could possibly be and they don’t have anything else to go off of, but what they do know is that she’s gone. And it’s too much for them, too much for him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Once Again, You've Had to Greet Me With Goodbye

_“I love you.”_

She’s gone.

She disappeared in a cloud of darkness and she’s gone now and they have no idea where she could possibly be and they don’t have anything else to go off of, but what they do know is that _she’s gone_. And it’s too much for them, too much for him.

He hadn’t moved since she’d disappeared. He hadn’t lifted his eyes from the dagger. Hadn’t said anything at all. He felt broken. He felt lost, so very lost.

“Hook,” Henry tried, shaking his shoulder gently. “Please, Hook,” he begged. When she disappeared, he’d taken all of two steps before falling to his knees. He was so in shock that he couldn’t move. His face held a blank stare, his lips parted ever so slightly, and he hadn’t moved since. “Killian.”

“She-” he stopped short, shutting his mouth again and shaking his head. “She’s-”

“I know, but we can’t focus on finding her until you get up,” the lad pressed. “I need your help,” he begged. “Please. She wouldn’t want you to do this, you know that.”

Killian stayed frozen for a moment longer before nodding and meeting Henry’s gaze. It felt like the first time he’d so much as blinked in the past few hours. “Alright,” he nodded, swallowing hard. Henry offered him a sad smile. He returned it as best he could. “Come on, lad, let’s get you back home.”

They walked back to the flat, two lost boys without their swan.

For the next few weeks, everyone had spent time going through books, the Internet, talking to the fairies, anything or anyone that could help. As time drew on, tensions ran high, and there were many a screaming match.

_“You’re overreacting!”_

_“No, I’m not!”_

_“Charming, it was a plate of cookies.”_

_“Yes, but it was our twelfth plate of cookies!”_

_“That doesn’t mean you can kill Granny!”_

_“Then put a damn note on our door because the next person that brings cookies, or tea, or anything edible is going to get punched in the face!”_

If Killian hadn’t had such quick reflexes there would have been bloodshed.

Henry fell asleep in Emma’s bed almost every night that summer, Killian usually fell asleep in some funny position on Henry’s or on a chair he’d dragged up. On several occasions Mary Margaret has come up to find them; one with his cheek stuck to the pages of a book, half falling off of a too small bed, the other hugging a sweater that didn’t really smell like her anymore, but it still helped. Every bit helped.

“I found something,” Henry shouted one Sunday night. It was too late for him to even be up but he found something and for that, no one would really care that it was three-thirty.

He shook Killian a few times and sat down before he even has a chance to move. “What is it, lad,” he yawned.

“Someone saw her,” he beamed.

“They what?”

“In the city - in _New York_ ,” he said, unable to contain his excitement. “She was spotted in this little restaurant in Hell’s Kitchen, we have to go!”

“Go wake your grandparents,” he said, sitting up as best he could against the slanted ceiling. As Henry down the stairs, he knew he should have been excited, or at least _happy_ that this was happening, but…what if she doesn’t love him anymore? What if she found someone better than him, what if she found someone better than a lovesick pirate? What if-

“Killian,” his head snapped towards the sound of Mary Margaret’s voice. She was in her pyjamas, a robe wrapped around her.

“Sorry,” he said, faking a smile. “I just-”

“You know she’s not going to have moved on,” she interrupted. “She’s still the same Emma. She’ll still know and love you,” she promised. He watched as she turned and headed back down the stairs. “We’re leaving at eight. Get a little extra sleep, if you can.”

He couldn’t.

Emma’s closest friends and family took a train into the city and split up. Snow with Charming; Regina, Robin and Roland together; Lily and Henry; and Killian alone. He was better at accomplishing tasks when he was alone. Plus, he knew Emma best, he often had no trouble in finding her, no matter the circumstances. They agreed to meet later on, back at the train station.

He walked for what felt like hours before he found her. 

When he did finally see her, he almost didn’t recognise her. She was dressed in all deep, dark colours, not a stitch of pink or blue or green on her and it felt as if something was missing. He watched her laugh with someone she was speaking to, her leather jacket caught between her wrist and her waist, one hand in the pocket of her dark jeans, her hair pulled out of her face, similar to that of how she wore it in that horrible upside down world they were in. She spotted him and waved him over, a beautiful smile on her lips. She took hold of his hand and continued her conversation with her friend - a man she called Blaine. If he hadn’t memorised so much of her mannerisms, he wouldn’t have noticed the difference in her stance, her laugh, how tightly she held his hand, how hers shook as they stood on a New York City street corner in late August. He ran his thumb over the front of her hand and just watched her. She was so different, so not Emma, yet so much the same.

He could feel the darkness.

It wasn’t something he could just ignore.

When her friend was gone, she kissed him so fiercely. All passion, her hands on either side of his jaw, her body flush against his. “What took you so long,” she asked, head cocked to the side. He barely knew how to respond as she practically dragged him towards the subway.

She watched a few minutes of his confused starting at the map of all available routes, a small smile on her face. She rested her arm on his shoulder and brushed his hair back into place. She sighed and asked where and when he was supposed to meet everyone.

“Grand Central station in a few hours,” he shrugged. “Why, love,” he asked, a confused look on his face as she pulled him towards the turnstiles.

“We’re going to go somewhere you’ll like,” she promised, pressing a kiss to the corner of his mouth.

He stood close by her in the crowded subway car, his hand never leaving hers. She lead them up and out of the subway towards a large green park. She pulled him towards an old oak tree and sat, waiting for him to do the same. She’d rested her head in his lap as they laid beneath the shade of a large tree. “I missed you,” she finally whispered, half hoping he wouldn’t hear her.

“I missed you, too,” he smiled when she reached up and intertwined their fingers. “We all did.”

When they finally met up with everyone, he watched as she hugged them. Her mother cried, her father was just glad to have his little girl back, and Henry just didn’t let go. He missed his mother more than any of them had, or at least, that’s what he felt.

They’d all missed her _terribly_.

She was different now. Not terribly different, but she wasn’t acting entirely like herself. She liked to be up later than she used to, she was more demanding and less affectionate, she had less of a filter, and dressed more provocatively. She used magic for everyday things, like flipping a page in a magazine or making dinner. There were also the many mean spirited pranks she pulled, Killian or Charming usually the victims.

She just wasn’t the same.

They’d finally been able to track Merlin down by the end of August. He’d explained the answer that everyone knew but never considered. _True love’s kiss_. No, he hadn’t kissed her since she came home. It wasn’t anything he’d done intentionally, it just hadn’t happened. He’d been too busy trying to keep up with her. Emma Swan had never been anything but a free spirit, and that was one of the many things he loved about her, but he was having issues following her. He was so emotionally drained after searching for her that physically chasing her was quickly becoming a challenge. Then again, he’d always loved a challenge.

_“Killian, it’s eight in the evening,” she’d groaned._

_“Which is exactly why we should retire for the night now,” he yawned._

_“It’s too early,” she frowned, sitting down next to him on the couch. “Let’s go to the Rabbit Hole for drinks.”_

_“You go,” he said, leaning his head back. “I’m physically exhausted. I’m sorry.”_

_“Old man,” she muttered, getting to her feet._

_“A pleasure,” he murmured, already half asleep. She sighed and stood._

_“I’ll wake you up when I get home,” she promised._

_“Can’t wait,” he smiled. She rolled her eyes and pressed a kiss to the hollow of his throat._

Killian ran up the stairs to her bedroom as quickly as he could have manage without tripping. He stopped when he saw her standing in front of her mirror. “Killian, what are you-”

He didn’t give her the chance to finish as he crossed the room and kissed her. There was a flash of light and the feeling of warmth on his skin. He felt her hands reach up and tighten around the lapels of his jacket. The kiss slowed and he leaned his forehead against hers.

They were quiet for a long time. “Is it gone? Are you alright?”

She let out a breathy laugh and held him against her. “I’m alright,” she promised. “Just…tired.”

“Alright,” he nodded, stepping back. “Then I’ll let you-”

“Please, don’t,” she said quietly, interrupting him. “I just…don’t want to be alone tonight.”

He nodded, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “As you wish.”


End file.
